Gaja targets mix of majority, minority India deals

"Given that $100 billion in private equity capital has been invested in India over the last 10 years, there is increasingly an opportunity to buy control in high growth companies," Jain said. "So we have enhanced our capital base and our operational capabilities to handle control transactions."

Gaja has since its inception targeted investments that leverage domestic consumption growth and the firm will continue to pursue this theme with the $240 million Gaja Capital Fund III. As such, the first two deals are education start-up SportsVillage - acquired for INR650 million ($9.8 million) - and B2B frozen food provider Bakers Circle. The latter company, which has received INR360 million from Gaja in return for a minority stake, supplies nearly all of India's quick-service restaurant chains.

Gaja III launched in 2013 and reached a first close of $130 million the following year. LPs include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, which committed $25 million. Unlike Gaja's previous funds, which mostly drew from high net worth individuals and family offices, investors in the new vehicle are mostly institutional.

"There has been an evolution of profile. At the same time we see good support from our existing investors," said Jain. He attributes the interest of new investors, along with the continued participation of existing LPs, to the ability of Gaja to maintain its investment focus in the previous fund without branching into irrelevant sectors.

"In this current fundraising environment investors are rewarding disciplined investors," he explained. "I think investors are increasingly focused on three things: a differentiated and validated formula for alpha creation, commitment from the team, and track record."

Whereas the previous fund made eight investments in all, Gaja Capital III is expected to back up to 10 companies, committing between $10-30 million to each one.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Growth
• Fundraising
• GPs
• India
• Gaja Capital Partners
• buyout
• Education
• Consumer